May 24, 2008 was the first time Trondheim Rock Fest was arranged. It was indeed a successful opening. This was an outdoor show at Trondheim Square and the Rock Fest was not only very lucky with the weather conditions, but also the mass of people that attended the show. The venue was packed with people very early and apart from the unnecessary overpriced beer(!), everything looked good before the concerts of two legendary bands: Thin Lizzy and Def Leppard. Both of these bands haven’t been in Norway for quite a while. Def Leppard paid their last visit twelve years ago, and Thin Lizzy has kept cancelling every show they have had in Norway the previous few years. Now they were brought in to give the debut year of Trondheim Rock Fest a real kick-start, which they sure did!
Thin Lizzy is a band that gained a lot of success during the late 70s/early 80s due to some great songs such as the cover of the Folk song “Whiskey In The Jar” and their own original “Boys Are Back In Town.” The band is also much known for their use of the double guitar harmony, which was later picked up by bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Thin Lizzy is also much known because of their black singer Phil Lynnot, a legend in Rock history. Sadly, he passed away due to an overdose in 1986, a couple of years after the bands break-up. The band reunited in 1999 and started touring again with Sykes handling the vocals, which he does quite impressively. The band also has a new full-time drummer; the legendary Tommy Aldridge who left Whitesnake earlier this year. He’s not actually new to the band, and has been playing with them for couple of years, besides his work in Whitesnake. Mr. Aldridge was a good enough reason to see the show! His playing was outstanding and as entertaining as always. The chemistry between Sykes and Gorham was great and put no shame to the music. During the Lizzy set, fans could hear them play such classics like “Dancing In The Moonlight,” “Still In Love With You,” and, off course, “Boys Are Back In Town.” They played a fantastic show and it was quite a shame they only played for an hour or so.
The Thin Lizzy line-up:
John Sykes – Vocal, Guitar
Scott Gorham – Guitar
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
Marco Mendoza – Bass
Def Leppard should not be an unknown name to anyone. The British Rockers have through a 30-year career released a wide number of successful records, among them are the super-selling Pyromania and Hysteria that gained them exalted status during the 80s. Def Leppard has sold 65 million albums worldwide and are among five Rock bands with two albums that has sold 10 million copies each in the USA. With a very respectable hit catalog, it was quite obvious that this would become a sing-a-long night for sure!
Def Leppard is one of those few 80s Metal bands that were never killed by the Grunge wave, which appeared in the early 90s. Sure it was the darkest chapter of their history so far, but they did still sell many records and sold out venues all over the world. Now it’s almost twelve years since Def Leppard were in Norway and this time they played at three different places for about fifteen thousand people. They are not forgotten among the Norwegian fans that have waited so patiently and they proved to be worth the long wait. The band is known to be a magnificent live act, and they still are! Singer Joe Elliot was the first to come out on stage yelling “Guitar! Drums!” Then the rest of Def Leppard entered the stage in front of an ecstasy-filled audience, playing one of the hit singles from their highly acclaimed 1987 release Hysteria entitled “Rocket.” Following next was the legendary “Animal” before a new song from their latest release Songs From The Sparkle Lounge: “C’mon C’mon.” It was a hungry band fans saw this Saturday night. Def Leppard played hit after hit to this highly pleased crowd with a joy that was contagious to the audience as well, and a great choir of six thousand people filled the venue together with Def Leppard.
The unexpected “Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)” from their second release High N’ Dry was also played during the set — quite fun to hear this one live. The band sounded awesome on this night; a fine and polished sound reached the ears of the listeners and everyone upon the stage played with the greatest passion. The two guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campell played fantasticly all night, proving to be one of the greatest guitar duos in Heavy Rock today. The power ballad “Love Bites” was a very welcomed song as well, and the lighters were held high while the sing-a-long spread out through the crowd. This song relies on its vocal harmonies and the band managed to do this perfectly. It was actually hard to believe that these guys have gotten older at all singing like this.
Lots of other great Leppard songs were played, but “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was the song everybody was waiting for, and when it blasted out through the loud speakers, the crowd went crazy. Evidentl everyone at the venue sung along with the band during this one; one of their biggest hits ever. Then fans were taken back to 1983’s “Rock Of Ages,” opening with the legendary words ”Gunter, Glieben, Glauchen, Globen.” After this one, the band left the stage. Extras were compulsory, but what songs would they play? With a hit catalog like Def Leppard has, there would be many choices. Eventually, Joe Elliot came back on stage and said “I got one question for ya … do you wanna get rocked?” It was quite obvious that the super hit “Lets Get Rocked” from the Adrenalize album would be the ending song, and again the massive crowd-choir filled the air at the venue. Then the band left the stage with the words “Don’t forget us and we won’t forget you.”
This was truly a fabulous show and the band was praised by the six thousand strong crowd when leaving the stage. Def Leppard is a band that thrives under the spotlight and they gave fans an unforgettable show!
The Def Leppard line-up:
Joe Elliott – Vocals
Rick Savage – Bass and Vocals
Phil Collen – Guitar and Vocals
Vivian Campbell – Guitar and Vocals
Rick Allen – Drums and Vocals
Set list: Rocket/Animal/C’mon C’mon/Foolin/Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)/Nine Lives/Love Bites/bass solo/Rock On/Bad Actress/Make Love Like A Man/guitar solo/Hysteria/Armageddon It/Photograph/Pour Some Sugar On Me/Rock Of Ages.
Encore: Let’s Get Rocked.
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